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When a diagnosis can’t wait
We have all seen the collateral effects of COVID-19 on our health care system. To improve how we respond to the demands imposed by the pandemic, government authorities have requested the postponement of a large number of medical interventions. Diagnostic tests have not been spared: according to an internal document from the province’s health ministry, some 5,000 cancers were not diagnosed in Quebec during the first few months of the pandemic.
The confirmation of a diagnosis can have a major effect on an individual’s life, hence the importance of consulting a health care professional to avoid the ticking time bomb that threatens one’s health and the effectiveness of our health care institutions.
From the very beginning of the pandemic, we questioned our role and how we could ensure the health and safety of the communities in which we operate. As a result, we opened five service centres that could accommodate individuals with COVID-19-like symptoms or who had close contact with an infected person. Located in Brossard, Saint-Laurent, Magog, Quebec City and Boisbriand, these centres offer testing and sampling services such as blood tests, COVID-19 screening, screening for STBBIs, colon cancer screening tests, influenza tests and throat swabs.
Given the similarity between cold, flu and COVID-19 symptoms, a coronavirus infection will certainly be suspected by doctors this winter, sometimes mistakenly. The new “respiratory multiplex PCR” test offered by Biron can differentiate COVID-19 from 21 other pathogens whose symptoms are similar to COVID-19. The benefits for the patient are numerous, including the elimination of trial and error, cost savings associated with other tests, virus screening and adequate prevention of transmission. What’s more, it avoids unnecessary use of antibiotics. This test must be prescribed by a doctor and is available throughout our network.
